Last Friday, Jamestown was abuzz, with billionaire Elon Musk making his way north to address adoring fans at the site of the much talked about lithium-ion battery. No-one knew for sure what was going to happen at the Powerpack event, but given the man himself would be in attendance, there was a sense that something huge would happen. However, what would occur was a whole load of glitz but not a lot of substance. A fleet of Teslas had been brought over from interstate and charging stations had been set up for those driving from out of town. There was valet parking, spotlights on the battery pack and a line of cars wrapping right around the site of the battery. People all across the country had made the journey to Jamestown; there were even some French accents in the valet line, showing just how hotly anticipated the event was. Excitement was high and when Mr Musk finally came out, it fell flat when he spoke for a grand total of 10 minutes without really addressing anything the public did not already know. He did reveal the event was entirely powered by the already 50 per cent complete battery which was lit up outside, but the rest of his talk focused on the potential battery technology could unlock as the world switches to renewable energy. Neither Mr Musk nor Premier Jay Weatherill have said anything about the event in the five days since, bar a few retweets on Twitter of articles here and there, choosing instead to praise the Tesla founder’s SpaceX speech from earlier that day. For all the hype and secrecy in the lead up to the event, it is hard to label it anything other than a bit of a letdown. Much like the battery itself, the event looked nice from a distance but it was only half done.

Powerpack event runs out of charge for Elon Musk

There was a lot of mystery surrounding the Powerpack event, but ultimately it fell flat

Last Friday, Jamestown was abuzz, with billionaire Elon Musk making his way north to address adoring fans at the site of the much talked about lithium-ion battery.

No-one knew for sure what was going to happen at the Powerpack event, but given the man himself would be in attendance, there was a sense that something huge would happen.

However, what would occur was a whole load of glitz but not a lot of substance.

A fleet of Teslas had been brought over from interstate and charging stations had been set up for those driving from out of town.

There was valet parking, spotlights on the battery pack and a line of cars wrapping right around the site of the battery.

People all across the country had made the journey to Jamestown; there were even some French accents in the valet line, showing just how hotly anticipated the event was.

Excitement was high and when Mr Musk finally came out, it fell flat when he spoke for a grand total of 10 minutes without really addressing anything the public did not already know.

He did reveal the event was entirely powered by the already 50 per cent complete battery which was lit up outside, but the rest of his talk focused on the potential battery technology could unlock as the world switches to renewable energy.

Neither Mr Musk nor Premier Jay Weatherill have said anything about the event in the five days since, bar a few retweets on Twitter of articles here and there, choosing instead to praise the Tesla founder’s SpaceX speech from earlier that day.

For all the hype and secrecy in the lead up to the event, it is hard to label it anything other than a bit of a letdown.

Much like the battery itself, the event looked nice from a distance but it was only half done.